Recent studies have shown that human languages are optimally balanced between accuracy and complexity, Tech Xplore reports. In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers formed two artificial neural networks trained with two generic deep learning methods. As researcher Marco Baroni explains: "We made the networks play a colour-naming game in which they had to communicate about colour chips from a continuous colour space. We did not limit the...
Cryptocurrency exchange firm Coinbase hit a market value of nearly $100 billion in its stock market listing, higher than many blue-chip companies including BP. Shares debuted on Nasdaq at $381 but closed below $330. The listing was seen as the latest step toward cryptocurrencies gaining wider acceptance among traditional investors, the BBC reports. The price of Bitcoin hit a record high of more than $63,000 today ahead of the Coinbase listing. Coinbase, which makes money primarily by charging transaction fees, had...
The team from Oxford University and British-Swedish biotech firm AstraZeneca began injecting doses of vaccine Vaxzevria into patients in April 2020. It's approved for use in almost 100 countries and forms the backbone of the World Health Organization's COVAX initiative, which aims to provide equitable access to vaccines across the globe. However, as CNET reports, the vaccine has suffered setbacks. Miscommunications with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and dosing mistakes in clinical trials eroded confidence in...
Scientists, industry experts, and policymakers will discuss the latest issues surrounding space debris in a four-day conference beginning April 20. The European Space Agency will conduct the eighth European Conference on Space Debris from Darmstadt, Germany, at which they will exchange research and attempt to determine solutions to the problem of 129 million objects larger than a millimeter in orbits around Earth.
https://scitechdaily.com/space-debris-danger-to-satellites-over-129-million-objects-in-orbit-around-the-earth-video/
Researchers are developing wearable devices to transform the way we monitor, diagnose and treat acute and chronic conditions, including COVID-19, Tech Xplore reports. There are a variety of devices being developed, including tattoos, contact lenses, and clothing, that can monitor a range of health signals and provide real-time data about our bodies. In an article published in Nature Electronics, researchers suggest that this data could help diagnose and treat COVID-19.
https://techxplore.com/news/2021-04-wearable-devices-future-personalized-diagnostics.html
With a simple artificial nervous system now able to mimic human responses to light, scientists are learning more about how to program such technology for use in medical robotic prostheses, Tech Xplore reports. Similar to the way the human hand reacts to a hot surface, artificial nervous systems can react to their environment automatically. Now, researchers seek to program artificial neurons to respond to external stimuli consciously.
https://techxplore.com/news/2021-04-artificial-nervous-humans.html
A genetic analysis of the most widespread reef coral in the Indo-Pacific revealed that rather than being a single species (Pachyseris speciosa), it is actually four distinct species of coral, researchers report in Current Biology. The results suggest other corals thought to be a single species may be more diverse than researchers realized, and understanding which coral species foster biodiversity and how those corals behave is vital to taking care of them, reports ScienceNews. In the lab, coral...
Credit: NASA
NASA helicopter Ingenuity was scheduled to take the first powered, controlled flight on another planet today, but is on hold until at least April 14, Phys.org reports. A test of Ingenuity's 1.8-kilogram rotors on Friday showed a potential problem. "The helicopter team is reviewing telemetry to diagnose and understand the issue," NASA said in a statement. "Following that, they will reschedule the full-speed test." NASA noted the copter is "safe and healthy" and...
Biologists have created a synthetic cell with only the bare minimum number of genes it needs to live and reproduce in a lab, reports CBC's Quirks & Quarks. "What we have is an organism that is right now as simple as anything that can live on the planet," said John Glass, a professor of synthetic biology at the J. Craig Venter Institute in California. Mr. Glass has obviously not met my friend Bill.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/coyotes-doing-well-in-the-city-asteroid-impact-created-rainforests-the-minimal-organism-and-more-1.5980412/scientists-create-the-simplest-cell-with-only-bare-essentials-for-life-and-reproduction-1.5980420
The asteroid impact 66 million years ago may have wiped out 75 percent of all life including the dinosaurs, but it set the stage for the creation of rainforests, says a new study by geologist and paleontologist Carlos Jaramillo and his colleagues. The result of the post-impact settling of dust, after several million years of evolution, was the dense, diverse tropical rainforests we know today, according to the report. The vast clouds of minerals ejected onto the landscape by the...
